I mean good grief:
An attorney for first lady Melania Trump argued in a lawsuit filed Monday that an article falsely alleging that she once worked for an escort service hurt her chance to establish “multimillion dollar business relationships” during the years in which she would be “one of the most photographed women in the world.”
The suit — filed Monday in New York Supreme Court, a state trial court, in Manhattan — against Mail Media, the owner of the Daily Mail, said the article published by the Daily Mail and its online division last August caused Trump’s brand, Melania, to lose “significant value” as well as “major business opportunities that were otherwise available to her.” The suit said the article had damaged her “unique, once in a lifetime opportunity” to “launch a broad-based commercial brand.”
“These product categories would have included, among other things, apparel accessories, shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care, skin care and fragrance,” according to the lawsuit, which was filed on Trump’s behalf by California attorney Charles Harder.
Neither Harder nor the White House responded to requests for comment late Monday. Harder has represented several high-profile clients, including wrestler Hulk Hogan, who won a $140 million invasion of privacy verdict against Gawker last year.
The suit filed Monday did not spell out a plan by Trump to market her products during her tenure as first lady, but mentioned that her reputation had suffered just as she was experiencing a “multi-year term” of elevated publicity. The suit says the Daily Mail article “impugned her fitness to perform her duties as First Lady of the United States.”
Donald is running who knows what sized business as POTUS and no he has not removed himself from operational control, taxpayers are paying tens of millions to defend Trump Tower because Melania and Donald hate each other and she won’t move to the god damned White House or divorce him, we’re spending shitloads as Uday and Qusay fly around the world pursuing their business interests, and on and on and on.
And Republicans, the folks who screamed for years about Obama’s travel costs don’t give a shit. Sarah Palin has to be just sick to her stomach and jealous as fuck.
FlipYrWhig
Shorter Melania: “calling me a paid escort ruined my ability to sell myself!” o_O
sharl
Hahaha, ditto for Huckabee. I can just imaging the chat between them…
Another Scott
DeVos Confirmation vote is going on now in the Senate…
Cheers,
Scott.
MJS
Trump’s administration is a mirror image of his campaign in that the deluge of the previously unimaginable cannot be addressed in any great detail by the overmatched media, if they are even so inclined. This story, which would have resulted in congressional hearings under any Democratic administration will be old news by 4:00 EST.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
My guess is Melania’s gunning for as much money as she can get so she can stay in New York and divorce Emperor Babyfists.
Chris
I wonder. She dropped the Alaska governorship in favor of a Fox-News-Kardashians gig because she was too lazy and thin-skinned for the exposure of politics. I’m not sure if she’s watching all of Trump’s criticism and low approval ratings pile up and thinking she dodged a bullet, or watching just what a terrible job he’s being allowed to get away with and thinking “wow, maybe presidenting isn’t so hard after all. That shoulda been me!”
zhena gogolia
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA:
She looks totally miserable in all the pictures. Not that I have much sympathy for her. Somebody posted something about how the deal she signed up for was never to have to do another day of work in her life, and he reneged on it. As per usual.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Chris: I’m sure she’s blaming the lamestream media.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
IOKIYAR.
Melania has been involved with Twitler for how long now? She’s seen the grifting style up close and personal so it should come as no surprise, assuming this story is verified, that she’s try to apply whatever she’s learned going forward. I mean the rest of the clan from the SCROTUS on down are doing this for the grift, why not her?
The sad thing is that this will go on in front of everybody, much of it could be easily sold as impeachable and yet, nothing will be done about it. It’s sad watching my country die in front of me.
zhena gogolia
We went from workaholic, capable, ethical Obamas to this. Disgusting.
Kay
Oooh! Brave to say it. People are saying it though. You can’t blame them, I don’t think. This is not what they’re used to.
I had someone ask me if they’re “separated” – I didn’t know what to say so I said “physically”? :)
I’m avoiding that question!
As far as the “travel costs” of the President bullshit, I blame voters. Republicans have been doing this to Democrats for decades. How many times are voters going to fall for it? I knew Trump would spend a ton on his family situation and I also knew he wouldn’t pay for it.
SiubhanDuinne
DeVos 50-50.
Tiebreaker from Pence.
Hunter Gathers
Normally, this would bother me.
But Obama said that if he had a son, he’d look like Trayvon Martin.
Therefore the Trumps get to grift all they want, because black people frighten me.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne:
Barf.
MJS
@zhena gogolia: Another?
Betty Cracker
Lawyers, are there opportunities for damaging discovery requests in this case? Seems like MT’s organization should be compelled to come up with business plans that detail how she planned to cash in on the First Lady gig…
@SiubhanDuinne: Fuckity fuck. Oh well. On the bright side, she’s such an obviously unqualified plutocratic grifter than she’ll make great fodder for Democratic political ads targeting morons who thought Trump was going to “drain the swamp” and idjits who stayed home because they didn’t think it mattered who was president.
greennotGreen
Falsely claiming Melania worked as an escort is so much more damaging to her brand than the soft porn pictures of her readily available on the internet.
Corner Stone
@Hunter Gathers: Finally! Someone who speaks for me and my beliefs!
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@SiubhanDuinne: Reason 3,502 that I’m glad I don’t have kids/grandkids — they’d be stuck in this soon-to-be-destroyed education system.
Of course, this doesn’t bode well for the poorly-educated future paramedic that will be called to save my life when my poor choices catch up with me. But at least I won’t have to live with the idiot now.
Big Ole Hound
@SiubhanDuinne: Not one GOPER with balls…they just line up behind Trump because they’re scared of his wrath….chickenshits.
Kay
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks so much for calling. It matters a lot of she’s discredited going in. She doesn’t have that much statutory power. A big part of that job is getting people to consent. Oh well! THAT’S not happening! :)
I don’t know why they nominated her. It’s like assuring they’ll be completely ineffective.
Corner Stone
@Betty Cracker: Republicans hate public education. If you put Kodos in the Sec Ed spot and he swore the oath with his flipper on a copy of To Serve Man they would still be joyful that the death spiral has begun for public education.
hovercraft
The desire to grift overcame the need for discretion. Her lawyer is the guy who bankrupted Gawker, what if he can get that kind of money for Melania, the regular family business is suffering because of all the boycotts, so why not make an easy fortune with this law suit? The balls on them, saying out loud that she had planned to profit off of her role as First Lady is breathtaking. Of course their fans will love the twofer, she was planning to be entrepreneurial, and she’s going after the liberal media. Win, win.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Yeah. This was the one where I really believed, for one brief shining moment, that there might be just one more Republican who would do the right thing and join Collins and Murkowski.
So now I guess we’ll also have Attorney General Sessions by close of day?
Fester Addams
Maybe her play is to get Big Cheeto to pay her to drop the thing and avoid the attendant pretrial hilarity. Or maybe not–assumes too much intelligence and foresight on It’s part.
Kay
I have an old man acquaintance who sent me a crazy pro-Trump letter during the campaign. He called me today, I think ONLY to bitch about prescription drug costs- if there was another reason he forgot- and said he was sending his scrip bill “to Obama”. I was like “oh, no. That goes to your boy Trump now!” Anyway, he admitted Trump MIGHT have over-promised on “fixing everything” :)
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
Feature, not bug, for this crew.
sharl
@Betty Cracker:
I saw someone online suggest/wonder/speculate that The Donald’s tax returns might be vulnerable to legal discovery. I’m not a lawyer, and I doubt this anonymous commenter was either, but it’s fun to think about. Melania’s lawyer is very, very good, from what I’ve read, so any defense counsel trying that would really have to bring their ‘A’ game.
trollhattan
If Melamine doesn’t give two shits about her spawn with Donald then yes, she can ditch him; otherwise he threatens to take the boy and effectively shuts any such nonsense down. She can’t outlawyer him, plus we can only imagine the thousand-page prenup signed in blood (hers, from wherever).
PsiFighter37
@SiubhanDuinne: I checked the GOP’s page asking to support her confirmation on FB, and there were a lot of very unhappy Republicans saying to vote no. I think this one, mainly because of how transparently unqualified she is, how clearly she bought the position, and how much this will impact everyone – this will come back to bite them in the ass the most.
Shana
@Fester Addams: That also assumes he’s capable of letting anything go, which I haven’t seen so far.
@Kay: If you look at the totality of his nominees I think you can’t come to any other conclusion. They want to burn it all down. EPA, Energy, Education, State, HUD, it’s unqualified and/or destructive all the way.
p.a.
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: don’t worry about the poorly trained emt; thanks to RELIGIOUS FREEDUM ™ they can be Jehovahs Witnesses and deny you a transfusion anyway!
Patricia Kayden
Grifters gotta grift. And we’re gonna pay for it. We’ve already paid thousands for Uday’s trip to Uruguay. And Trump is doing two fundraisers this weekend.
Eljai
So,being accused of working for an escort service damaged Melania’s brand. You know what else will damage your brand? Being married to a racist orange rind.
pamelabrown53
@SiubhanDuinne: #12
The DeVos 50-50 with tie breaker Pence: no one can convince me that this wasn’t planned. Tomorrow, the spouse and I are supposed to meet spouse’s republican niece and husband for lunch. I really want to be a no-show.
Tim C.
A) the DeVos thing is frustrating, but the K12 system is actually far more influenced by what happens at the state and local level.
B) DeVos isn’t really against Common Core so there will be lots of ways to wedge a certain crazy element away from Trump on that as well.
C) The real damage from DeVos in the higher Ed system would happen from literally any Republican. Deregulating for-profit scam colleges, lack of enforcement on Title IX, etc. this is where the scandals will come from. Also, charter schools are deeply unpopular in a lot of rural/mountain west states. This will help a lot in the senate fights of 2018. We are going to need a win or two in red territory to get the senate back, so here’s some ammo.
D) I hate to say this, but I don’t the media is the problem as much anymore with IOKIYAR. The media has been stepping up as of late outside the usual hacks. it’s the Republican voters themselves. Until they feel personal pain…. and they will, along with the rest of us. Donald will hold at 40%. It’s what happens after a crisis or six, (assuming we aren’t talking nuclear war) that will end up driving him down into 27% land. The media has been stepping up as of late outside the usual hacks.
satby
@hovercraft: and I was told today that it’s no different than the Clintons and Obamas making millions while they were in the White House. It’s just a different universe over in conservative land.
LAO
@Eljai: Apparently, not in the heartland.
Rasputin's Evil Twin
I’d forgotten entirely about the Melania-as-escort rumors. Nice of her to bring them up again. Could she post some of her “Work” photos too? Never mind – that’s where Google comes in.
Keep it classy, America
hovercraft
@SiubhanDuinne:
Good they own her, not only did we hold the line against her, some GOPers actually balked, and they had to resort to bringing in the VP to get her through. They own her lock stock and the barrel of the gun she wants in schools to deal with grizzly attacks.
@Hunter Gathers:
Since I’m sure you are an upstanding white person who has every right to feel besieged in your own country. The takeover by all these others, I mean the taco trucks*, the Chinese restaurants, and what’s with that Beyonce woman who keeps taking over Twitter, which we all know is Twitler’s domain. Lining his pockets will show us ;- )
*Dammit where the hell is my Taco truck, my corner is still bare? Or was that supposed to be the payoff for electing Hillary?
trollhattan
@Betty Cracker:
Does New York have an anti-SLAPP statute? If so, countersuing could be an angle.
aimai
@satby: Well, its true that President Obama made millions from a book or two that he wrote. But President Bush joined the Carlyle group, so both sides do it!
SFBayAreaGal
How many public school teachers voted for Twitler and are now complaining about DeVos?
Corner Stone
@SiubhanDuinne: Do you honestly think Collins and Murkowski were motivated by “doing the right thing”?
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@pamelabrown53:
I saw some reports that suggested Collins and Murkowski were allowed to do this for political cover knowing the Repubs still had the vote. You can bet your ass that if the final outcome was ever in doubt, neither one would have voted against the party. It just lets Collins perpetuate the myth with the Villagers that she’s some kind of moderate.
TenguPhule
@zhena gogolia: Remember, Donald was STEALING FROM HIS DONORS DURING THE GODDAMN CAMPAIGN by using election funds for personal benefit.
Not one of his supporters had a problem with this.
Too Stupid to Live.
TenguPhule
@pamelabrown53: Or you could just tell them “I told you so” until they go away.
hovercraft
@sharl:
ETA: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/melania-trump-lawsuit-daily-mail-damage-opportunity-profit-first-lady
randy khan
@SiubhanDuinne:
No surprise. While I hoped that some other Republican would come through, when Collins and Murkowski announced their votes and we had crickets from the other Republicans for 24 hours, I had a feeling they’d been granted dispensation and it would end up this way.
If I were a superPAC, I’d be thinking about running ads against Flake, Heller, and maybe a couple of others right now on this vote. Just as sort of a warm-up for 2018.
Anyway, on to Sessions.
TenguPhule
@SiubhanDuinne: I can hear our Constitution burning from here.
LAO
@hovercraft: I expect that the Trump Family will soon be opening a “Franklin Mint” like company to mass produce commemorative presidential pieces for sale. I can just picture it — “gold” coins with Trump’s likeness, etc. I tried to think of a name for it — but I’m not feeling very witty today.
Brachiator
Just. Don’t. Care.
ETA: The confirmation of DeVos is sad. A sham. A mockery of a sham. And a travesty of a sham of a mockery. Damn Republicans.
Hal
Devos seemed to be unpopular even with plenty of Republican voters. Oh well. Having Pence have to be the tie breaker has to sting.
Lizzy L
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: The education system is not going to be destroyed, because it’s not run out of DC. If you want to protect your grandkids, get involved at the local/ state level, because THAT”S where the decisions are made. I’m not saying DeVos is harmless — hell no — but public education is a local issue.
Support your local teachers’ unions. Don’t mourn; organize!
Kay
@Shana:
There couldn’t be another GOP Senator to vote against her. That person would be vilified and probably targeted by Trump. It would be career suicide.
patroclus
@pamelabrown53: Of course it was planned. The reason they delayed the consideration of Sessions as AG was so that he could still be a Senator and vote for DeVos. And they had a 2-vote leeway so they allowed Murkowski and Collins to defect.
hovercraft
@satby:
Epistemic closure, the Clinton’s didn’t make millions while in the WH, they were infamously broke when they left because of the constant need for lawyers to defend themselves from constant republican lawsuits. As for the Obama’s, he wrote two best sellers, and his election as president rocketed them both back up the bestseller lists, he did not promote them, people just wanted a piece of him.
SenyorDave
@TenguPhule: Remember, Donald was STEALING FROM HIS DONORS DURING THE GODDAMN CAMPAIGN by using election funds for personal benefit.
Way before that Donald was self dealing (AKA STEALING) from his own charity, and people didn’t have a problem with it. He is a thief, and doesn’t even try to hide it. His supporters love him for it.
AnotherBruce
@Lizzy L: The problem is going to be federal funding of schools, namely private and charter schools.
LAO
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: The Republicans are scared to death of Trump’s base, they aren’t going to go against him except for may be some issue that’s near and dear to the Senator/Congressperson’s heart. It sucks to admit, but Republicans don’t have the same priorities as Democrats and it is unrealistic to expect that we are going to win these battles.
We should continue to protest but, Jeff Sessions will be the next Attorney General of the United States.
randy khan
@Betty Cracker:
There might be some discovery early on, but probably not on the damages issue (more likely on the Mail’s basis for its claim). Unlike the Hogan case, which was based on a theory of invasion of privacy, this one is defamation, and Melania is a no-doubt public figure, so the standard for proving defamation is very high. Unless the Mail was making it up or actually knew it was false, it’s going to be hard for Melania to get past the early stages of the case.
Kay
@Hal:
She didn’t make the slightest effort to address their concerns. She just kept repeating what are ideological talking points. It isn’t a position where she can bully them into compliance. She’s not the boss of them, in a very real and practical sense.
p.a.
@Lizzy L:
The new Scotus will take care of them:
This will return
MomSense
@Corner Stone:
Collins knew we were pissed about DeVos – and Sessions – and the ACA but I’m sure she only decided to vote no because she knew nothing would come of it. She counted on the tie and the Pense vote.
This is her MO.
Major Major Major Major
If we’re adhering to the theory that, in the Senate, there are fights worth picking and fights that aren’t–the senators are, obviously–then this was a smart fight for Democrats to pick. While all of the other cabinet secretaries are likely to be grifters and agency-neglecting or -destroying hacks or worse, including possibly Mattis, your average voter doesn’t have a good handle on what failure looks like at those levels. What does it look like to have a bad Secretary of State? What does it look like if Carson destroys HUD? The man on the street doesn’t know this.
But making Republicans own DeVos is smart. Voters have a visceral understanding of what education does. And charter schools are not popular, and religious education doesn’t play well outside the set of people who already consistently vote Republican. The Dems can also tie any failure in or unpopular policy with education to DeVos, even if it has little (or nothing!) to do with the Department of Education itself. Just like every problem with health insurance and healthcare because Obama’s fault, so too can every problem with education become Trump’s fault. This is a policy that voters are going to be close to. Even the revolting white petit bourgeois that got us here have children.
ETA: I say this all as a person who knows that the DoE has much less to do with education practice than people think. But this is politics, and that ‘than people think’ part can do a lot of heavy lifting.
pamelabrown53
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: #44
Exactly! Susan Collins always skates by making her tut tut moderate noises and then votes with the tribe. This vote allowed her to replenish her “moderate” cred while never jeopardizing the outcome.
Re: Melania. At the risk of sounding like a concern troll, I do wonder if focusing ire on her is counterproductive. It frosts me to admit this when I think of the absolute tsunami of hate that would have been rained on Michelle Obama for anything that held the faintest scent of grifting. But then Michelle couldn’t show her bare arms while it would be a cinch to make a soft porn Melania calendar.
Mike in DC
I think a divorce is inevitable at some point, unless he dies first. It’s very odd for the first lady to have no interest in living in the white house. Odder still to live apart from her husband. Unlike Ivanka she’s not running her own business. She is taking care of Barron, but somehow I think she’d stay there even if he wasn’t a factor.
TenguPhule
@SenyorDave: Yes, but that only came out at the end of the campaign. And I repeat, he was literally stealing from the money his supporters were donating. He was stealing from them, if anything should have mustered a hint of sanity, it should have been that.
Instead, we learned turkeys will indeed vote for Thanksgiving and walk into those ovens confident that they will get the reward they deserve.
sukabi
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: yep.
Jeffro
@Hal:
Not with too many Republican voters, as they seem to still be sticking with Orangemandias in all things. But Republican voters with big buck$? oh yeah, they like her a lot.
Let’s double down on 2018, folks. People may have pledged $3M to defeat Toomey based on this, but he’s not up again until 2022. Make them all pay a.s.a.p. Swing Left is waiting!
Tim C.
@Lizzy L: This. the only big money that comes from the Feds is for transportation and food programs. Both are very popular and impact pretty much every rural community in America. Deregulation of for-profit colleges and not enforcing title IX will be bigger issues.
Ian G.
Honestly, I figured the best-case scenario with Trump and his awful family is that they wanted the presidency for the looting opportunity, and, through incompetence and laziness, would fail to bring about the real loony tunes GOP goals, like defaulting on the debt or a war with Iran or the abolition of the National Parks System. So long as their eyes are still on the grift prize, I’m reasonably reassured.
AnotherBruce
@Mike in DC: Wasn’t there a couple in the White House who recently raised a couple daughters while living there? So yeah, not a factor.
p.a.
@Ian G.: They grift, Dense and BanNSDAPon run things. Not good.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@AnotherBruce:
Hate to tell everybody this, but Federal grant programs on higher ed are about to take an alt-right, dominionist veer off.
Jeffro
@Mike in DC:
Can we all just picture the endless speculation if this had been happening to a Democratic president? The “when will he/she move in or divorce President [democrat]?” 24/7 news cycle that would have started the day after the inauguration (and I’m probably being generous there)…there’d be a little counter in the corner of every CNN news show, “Democratic First Family Days Apart, Day xx”
You know it’s true, too.
To say nothing of if there had EVER been the slightest hint of a Democratic first lady or first gentleman having been a former escort…oh My GOD…
Anyway, fuck these clowns. Since Speaker Ryan feels that President Trumpov is “respecting the process” by attacking judges, impeachment seems to be a diminished possibility (I mean, what wouldn’t Ryan excuse at this point? Nothing – SATSQ). That means a good spanking in 2018 and then a truly world-class a$$-whupping in 2020 must be in order. Let’s make that happen!
sukabi
@LAO: ummm, pretty sure that’s already happened. drumpf coin. It would be interesting to see who the Russian businessman is partnered with…. Just saying.
Major Major Major Major
@Jeffro: Obama is worse, anyway, since he had the temerity to mention a case at the State of the Union, and it hurt Alito’s feelings very much.
Shalimar
@SiubhanDuinne: Damn. I would have won a house, if anyone had been dumb enough to bet me. I said no other Republican would vote against, and if one did then either Collins or Murkowski would have a change of heart and maintain the one-vote confirmation.
hovercraft
Sshh, don’t tell the Trumpenfuror, Jhyna has been watching his bumbling.
China is eager to capitalize on Trump’s early missteps
02/07/17 12:43 PM
By Steve Benen
It wasn’t exactly a secret that President Obama often saw international affairs through a specific lens: there was a race underway for 21st-century primacy, and Obama was determined to make sure the United States remained well positioned in a competition against Beijing.
For Obama, U.S. trade policy was focused on countering China. U.S. policy in the arctic was about China. U.S. policy in the Caribbean was heavily influenced by China. U.S. policy towards India came against a backdrop of Chinese interest in the region.
With this in mind, it seems China, for entirely self-interested reasons, is delighted with many of Donald Trump’s early moves. CNBC reported yesterday that the new president’s antagonism towards Mexico “could make it easier for China to become the country’s – and Latin America’s – top trade partner.”
“The U.S. trade tensions with Mexico are putting the Mexican government on overdrive trying to find new export markets,” said Sean Miner, fellow at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think tank, who noted that 80 percent of Mexican exports go to the U.S. “Recently, China and Mexico have become closer. Clearly this is a consequence of the rising tensions.” […]
Fearing that trade with the U.S. may be restricted by policies implemented by the Trump administration, Mexico has been looking to lessen its economic dependence on its big neighbor to the north. Chinese and Mexican officials met on Dec. 12, pledging to deepen ties between the two countries.
The CNBC report added that China is looking for “a bigger economic beachhead in the Western Hemisphere,” and is eyeing other Latin American countries for stronger economic ties: “Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in October that China wants a feasibility study for a free trade agreement with Colombia. If the two countries agree on a deal, Colombia would join Peru, Chile and Costa Rica among Latin American countries that have bilateral trade agreements with China.”
There’s a lot of this going around, especially after Trump officially killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to the delight of officials in Beijing who were eager to see the agreement die.
The New Republic’s Jeet Heer noted that the same week as Trump’s regressive, “America First” inaugural address, Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he presented his country “as a defender of economic globalization and an exemplar of international cooperation on issues like climate change.”
The Washington Post’s Dan Drezner added, “I warned you all back in October that the Chinese would seem like the last great liberals in the world… A large fraction of the world still believes in the liberal order that the United States helped to erect 70 years ago, even if the current U.S. administration does not. They will look to any country willing to publicly defend that power.”
Describing the new U.S. president’s impact on international affairs, the New York Times’ David Leonhardt said Trump seems intent on “making China great again.”
As the White House stumbles from one mistake to another, it’s been difficult to find anyone who’s pleased with Team Trump’s horrendous start. By all appearances, however, the United States’ largest global rival has reason to be thrilled by the amateur president’s bumbling.
Mike in NC
@LAO: There are already companies selling gold coins bearing the profile of the Manhattan Mussolini, and other ‘collectable’ trash, but who really owns these outfits is a mystery.
LAO
@sukabi: note to self — google before commenting. lol.
ETA: Yeah, I missed the boat, Mike in NC.
Timurid
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: That will work until the FSB mails her a copy of their 746-page kompromat file on her.
ruckus
@LAO:
TrumpCrap branded stuff for proving that there are plenty of fucking morons and bigots in this world.
Betty
@Big Ole Hound: @hovercraft: Don’t forget. it was the two female Republicans who did stand up. Don’t think balls are involved.
Mnemosyne
@hovercraft:
You only got a taco truck if Hillary was elected. With Trump’s election, you get mayonnaise and white bread sandwich trucks. You’re welcome!
Betty
@hovercraft: I already got pretty much that response from two Trump fans on Facebook when I described this as sickening.
artem1s
@SiubhanDuinne:
too bad Pence doesn’t have a spine or soul or isn’t a human being really. He could be President right now. A NO vote on DeVos would have surely sent the SoCalledPresident straight over into aneurysm land. All he would have had to do then is wrestle control of the nukes away from PresidentBannon.
Mnemosyne
@pamelabrown53:
I think open pity is the way to go with Melania, and it would gall Trump to no end. If she’s a grifter, pity would gall her, and if she’s a victim, she’ll appreciate the pity.
ruemara
@MomSense: Abso-fucking-lutely. People give that woman way too much credit as being principled. She isn’t. She just knows how to play well in her normally blue state. She’s the inverse of our anger at people like Manchin. He votes more on the democratic side than her. He still is an ass who says low rent republican bullshit, but he’s more loyal than Miss Bipartisan curious.
Joyce H
Hulk Hogan’s lawyer. This illustrates something I’ve noticed before. When he has to hire someone to do a job, and given a choice between someone he’s familiar with or a stranger who’s an expert in the necessary subject matter, Trump ALWAYS goes with the familiar face. We’ve seen this time and time again since he’s been elected – when he needs legal work done, he always goes to a real estate lawyer or an entertainment lawyer, when it would be more appropriate to field a lawyer specializing in government work.
When you sue for defamation, you have to claim some actual measurable damage. But a lawyer who worked with politicians and public officials would know darn well that claiming that what had been damaged was your ability to personally profit from public office would be opening up an enormous can of bad publicity worms.
Major Major Major Major
@Joyce H: This lawyer is an expert in destroying the media based on trumped-up potential damages to personal income. Look at Gawker.
randy khan
@Jeffro:
I’m pretty sure the Republicans will forgive anything until the point when they decide that they forgive nothing. Whether that point will come I don’t know, but you should assume that both the House and Senate Republican caucuses always will act based on their sense of what’s in their interest.
Aleta
How can she argue for damages for a branded product line that doesn’t exist yet?
Anyway, it’s more accurate to sue Trump and Bannon for ruining her Jackie Kennedy spin off hat line or whatever.
stinger
Melania basically married a green card stapled to a million-dollar bill. Who among us would not do the same? Too bad her timing was off — if she were just a bit older, she’d have been traded in for a newer “model” before he ran for office. Now she gets to stand there grim-lipped for the next four years while the large talking yam next to her inveighs against immigrants. But look — the perambulator is GOLD!
Millard Filmore
@Fester Addams:
If the defense can get discovery on the income taxes, he will pay bigly.
J R in WV
@pamelabrown53:
Maybe more effective to show up, be gracious and attentive until they make the least motion towards support of The Donald. Then say quietly that you think Mr Trump is a traitor working for the Kremlin AND is totally unqualified to be president in any case being functionally illiterate, pardon me, leave.
Hard to deal with in any case, best of luck!
ThresherK
Evita: “They called me a whore! They actually called me a whore!”
Hosting Italian dignitary: “It’s an easy mistake; they still call me an admiral, but I gave up the sea long ago.”
(h/t Tim Rice)
J R in WV
@LAO:
America’s Presidential Gold Mint…. I hate it when I have these inspirations for the right wing. Maybe we should register the name and get to making money off Trump’s images to use against him?!
TenguPhule
@randy khan: Until the Emperor sends Lord Vader to reward them as traitors deserve. I’m not convinced that the Kapos in Congress will realize that their turn for the ovens has come up in time to do anything about it.
SWMBO
@LAO: Twitler’s Tweasures?
Buttermilk Sky
Don’t underestimate Melania. Out of all the girls at the escort service/modeling agency/insert euphemism here, she married the pimp.
Tehanu
I hope it’s OK to copy this in here:
http://alicublog.blogspot.com/2017/02/hoes-and-tricks.html
Commenter Big_Bad_Bald_Bastard:
How the hell is Melania Trump a strong woman? She’s cooped up in her ogrish husband’s gilded tower, waiting for the divorce papers to come in after he signs an executive order allowing him to marry his daughter.